John Kennedy

At a minimum, there should be 30 days before an intelligent thoughtful discussion, pros and cons.

But if there is a defining theme over the past four decades, it is the systematic assault on worker clout that is leading to stagnant wages, historic economic inequality, and all undermined by a sustained attack on union labor and…

Over the past four decades, our economy has shifted dramatically. Companies and corporations have opened, shuttered, and opened again.

Instead of pointing to market forces and ceding influence to corporations, it is time that Congress stepped forward, protect our economy, protect those employees.

Have you seen, in your opinion, sir, an erosion of workers protections, worker clout over recent American history?

Mr. Alvarez, if I can ask, if you were to be classified as a full employee from XPO, which, if I understand, you wear XPO clothing labeled with XPO, do you not?

But at the moment, because, you are not actually a full employee, but you are a contract employee, you wear their apparel but do not benefit from that arrangement?

While CEOs, on average, make 287 times more than those they employ, a minimum wage worker cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment in any corner of our country.

If we succeed in putting an astronaut on the Moon by the end of the decade, it will not be that astronaut who went. It will in fact be all of us in America.

We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the things not because they're easy but because they're hard.

This legislation does not live up to the ideals of our great Nation's Constitution. And we need to stand up for people of faith who are under attack in America today.

Earlier this year the Administration granted a request from South Carolina to use RFRA to waive non-discrimination requirements for State contracted child welfare agencies.

Right now the Trump Administration is fighting to make it easier for women to be denied critical contraceptive coverage on the basis of an employer's religious and moral beliefs.

However, over the years RFRA has morphed from a shield of protection to a sword of infringement.

I am here today to urge opposition to this legislation because I am convinced it would eviscerate one of the most important and widely regarded laws that has ever been passed by the Congress, and that is the Religious Freedom Restoration…

I stand with all House Republicans and any Democrats willing to put aside politics in the best interest of the people to defend religious freedom and the rights of religious minorities to worship freely.

I hope all of us here can agree that while religious liberty remains a fundamental value, it cannot and should not be used as a weapon to cause harm to others, but rather as a shield to protect the civil rights of people of all faiths, not…

If civil liberties and legal rights exist only in the absence of a neighbor's religious objection, then they are not rights, but empty promises.

The Supreme Court's 2014 ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby opened the doors for these flood gates even further.

RFRA was meant to be a shield that protects.

I thank the Chairman for holding this important hearing and for his decades of leadership on this issue and so many issues with regards to our civil rights.

The 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act received overwhelming support also from more than 60 national religious and civil liberties organizations from across the philosophical and political spectrum.

For so many reasons we know, religious liberty is often referred to as our First Freedom.

House Republicans will also continue our steadfast support for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and will fight any attempts to diminish or weaken the law which has served our country well for over 25 years.

It is time to restore RFRA to what it was originally intended to be.